The DoctorDonna in the Year That Never Was
by rupzydaisy
Summary: The Year That Never Was, with two futures breaking off from a single past. It likened to a buffer, locking the DoctorDonna in, so that she could see all that happened, but she could only be seen by one, a Time Lord called The Master.


_Hello. So, this is slightly AU. I wrote it because I felt that I need more time writing about the DoctorDonna before carrying on with my other story Remembering. I liked writing the Master and the DoctorDonna, they don't get on so well together. :D_

* * *

The DoctorDonna in the Year That Never Was

The DoctorDonna was an important event in the timeline of the universe. A human-Time Lord metacrisis that had never happened, because it couldn't have, shouldn't have. But it did. The stark uniqueness of it made ripples through time, sending an almost ghost like effect back through time, rippling across the years and months. And then the DoctorDonna became trapped in the Year That Never Was.

This was due to the equal uniqueness of the temporal fluctuation. Like a curve in an overflowing river, where some water is pushed across land, carving it out and providing two routes for the water to pass. The curve, or the straight, with both having equal chance of existing. With the Year That Never Was, it was the same principle. Two futures breaking off from a single past, both with the equal chance of turning into the definite future. It likened to a buffer, locking the DoctorDonna in, so that she could see all that happened, but she could only be seen by one.

The DoctorDonna first appeared when they were standing on the deck of the Valiant above the islands of Japan. Below was the most horrific sight that many on board had ever seen, save one man, who had not only caused it, but caused so many other horrors for the enslaved human race. On the deck were a family, the Jones, the mother, father and one daughter. Forced to stand by the railings and made to watch the fire. They stood with tears running down their faces as they watched history unfold.

The Master had sent his Toclafane down onto the islands. They were burning it, slicing the people into ribbons. The flames were larger than any volcano could throw up, and the screams were heartbreaking. The DoctorDonna stood alongside the Jones family and rested a ghostly hand on Tish's shoulder. The Master sniffed the air, and in amongst the thick acrid smell of smoke, he could smell something else. Something out of place. He turned his head to the side just as the DoctorDonna disappeared, folding back into the shortened time vortex.

* * *

A few hours later, after the 'show' was over, the Master ordered the Valiant to move on. It was flying over the European continent making its way back to Britain. The Master was lounging in his office on the flight deck swinging his large black leather chair from side to side as he watched repeats of the Teletubbies.

The DoctorDonna slowly formed in the corner, exiting the time vortex like mist and pulled together into her usual shape. She brushed herself down and glanced at the man on the chair who had yet to see her translucent self, which was turning more solid with every second. She recognised who he was and then stepped out of the shadows in the corner of the room.

"Oi, sunshine!" She shouted and the Master jumped up in his seat so that his back was ramrod straight before glaring at her.

"What!" He shouted and stood up, leaning over his desk with his hands curled up into fists. "How did you get in here?" He demanded.

"You are a lunatic." She yelled back, pointed her finger at him. "You deserve to be chucked off this ship, out of the window."

He pulled out his laser screwdriver and pressed a button on the side. Immediately a Toclafane appeared. "Get rid of this madwoman." He ordered lazily. Then he tapped at the laptop in front of him, switching off the children's programme and pulled up the security system which was meant to be foolproof. And he had designed it, so it obviously was.

"Madwoman? I'm the mad one here?" The DoctorDonna scoffed sarcastically.

"Yes Mister Master." The Toclafane replied and swooped down at her. Slim silver knives flipped out from its circular body and it passed straight through her.

"You're the mad one in this room, mate!" Donna said annoyed.

The Master on the other hand ignored her babbling and pointed his laser screwdriver at her, blasting a stream of golden energy at the strange woman. It passed through her and blew a chunk of the wall out behind her.

"Oi! I'm talking to you." The DoctorDonna told him and the Master blinked.

"Who are you? A projection? A hologram that Gramps made?" He quizzed.

"Gramps?" She asked.

"Him out there. The mighty and self righteous Doctor. Gramps." The Master replied as his hand passed over the laptop keys, and the message on the screen told him that there were no security breaches.

"Out there?" The DoctorDonna glanced at the closed door and then walked through the wall to the flight deck. She was back before the Master had made it out from his behind his desk. "You nutcase." She accused and he merely walked past her and out of the door.

"Come back here!" She ordered and followed him out, back on to the flight deck. There was no one else there. Only a dirty old white tent in the corner. The Master walked over and picked up a heavy bronze bell, like a school one, and shook it.

"Out you come Gramps." He sing-songed. And the aged Doctor dragged himself out of the tent. The Master helped him up to his feet and dumped him unceremoniously in his chair by just letting go off his shoulders.

"Master." The Doctor croaked.

"Hush now Gramps. Are you all awake now? This afternoon really took it out on your. Honestly, how much screaming and burning and slicing does it take until you're all sleepy? Not much I can tell you that Gramps, but after your little nap, you're all good to go." The Master patted the Doctor's face condescendingly.

"I need tell you-" The Doctor said weakly.

"Shush!" The Master replied before looking over to the DoctorDonna who continue to glare at him. The Master frowned at her, wondering who she was and if he was the only person to see her. "Come on Gramps, you have a look at your precious London. I'm debating which of the barracks needs a little...hmm...shall we say population control. Ooh, perhaps I can make it like the lottery!" He exclaimed as he wheeled the Doctor over to the window and parked him there.

He patted him twice on his head before walking back to his office, twitching a finger at the DoctorDonna to call her in after him. "The Master will see you now." He said stoically as he swept a hand while she strode past him. He slammed the door shut behind her.

"My family are down there." She stated, still glaring at him. "And me, well, half of me." She tilted her head to side as she looked at him. The Master scrutinised her, recognising the look of her looking down at him. Not only in distaste, but a hint of pity and so much moral goodness.

He exhaled sharply. "No." He breathed. He looked at the closed door and then back at her. "You. And him." Then he shuddered while pulling a face of disgust. "Oh, and I bet that you're human too."

"Name's DoctorDonna. And you are a pig." She told him as she continued to glower at him.

"A human-Time Lord metacrisis. Thought it wasn't possible." The Master mused. "Still, you're not here, not properly anyway. Like a ghost." He noted. "From a would-be future." He frowned at the thought.

The DoctorDonna moved over to the little porthole looking at the rising sun which had turned the sky a golden orange. "My mum's down there. My granddad too." The DoctorDonna said quietly.

"You're like a little buzzing annoying fly." The Master noted.

"Down there, in the London barracks. The second unit. Fossil Street. Cramped in a little house with two dozen other people. Four families and a couple. They got sent to Shipyard Number Three after a week. We never saw them again. Mum was one of the ones who got us up, kept us in line. She pleaded with the Toclafane on the forty fourth day when my granddad was sick. The flu hit the street hard. But they laughed. That, thing, you call the Toclafane laughed as it shot him."

"Buzz off." The Master replied lazily.

"My mum struggled on for as long as she could. Made it six months before she gave up. And she was broken. You did that to her. This is all your fault. She turned into a woman who had nothing left to lose. She left me on my own. Although, I didn't last for long either. Seven months. Seven months until the Toclafane descended on the street. '_Fun and games'_ apparently. They said they liked to hear us scream. I chucked a brick at one of them. I was shot and left abandoned on the street. People were too afraid to move me away." She broke off and then turned around and glared at him.

"What?" He asked, completely oblivious. The DoctorDonna didn't have a chance to reply as the temporal fluctuation pulled her back into the time vortex. The Master simply stared at the spot where she stood before walking down to the engines of the Valiant where Captain Jack was chained up. As he walked, he twirled his laser screwdriver between his fingers.

* * *

The flight deck was abuzz with activity; the Master had declared Shipyard Two open and ready for action. The Master was having a shoulder massage by Dianne and Lucy sat next to him as he fed her jelly babies. He sighed as the DoctorDonna marched up to him and stood right in front of him. "Lucy? Can you see that rather large, ginger fly?"

Lucy frowned before looking at Harry quizzically. "No, I don't think so Harry." She replied softly.

"Ok then." The Master announced as he stood up. "Oh Gandalf!" He called.

The Doctor looked up at him from his wheelchair with blank eyes. "Master." He rasped.

"What did I say before, Doctor?" The Master spat. "I don't want to hear anything you have to say." He paused. "Unless, you want to praise your lord and master." He pointed at himself and grinned cheekily. The Doctor shook his head. "I know, there's just no talking to me, is there?" He gave a little shrug as he walked over to the other Time Lord. He tutted and then wheeled the Doctor over to the window. Then he pulled out his laser screwdriver and made a large section of the glass disappear.

He pushed the wheelchair forwards and leaned down to whisper in the old man's ear. "But if there's nothing to say to me which is something I want to hear, then what's the use of you?" He hissed before spinning him around.

The DoctorDonna rushed up to them and placed herself in between the two. The Master's gaze flickered up to her angry eyes before it returned to the Doctor and twinkled mischievously. "Don't you dare." She ordered angrily.

"Maybe you'll disappear. Nothing to say to me then. No kind of irritating words." The Master spun around on the spot before peering out of the hole in the window. "Maybe I could get a Toclafane to record your little flight. Oh, you could fly just like them. Just like your beloved Toclafane. Because you do love them so very much." The Master mockingly nodded his head.

"Don't you bloody dare." She repeated.

"Oh Gramps. I could never get rid of you though. Such a fate doesn't even deserve you. Oh no." The Master leaned forwards and punched the Doctor through the DoctorDonna's stomach. She passed through him, leaving him feeling cold and then when he turned around she had disappeared.

"Master." The Doctor said weakly.

"No Doctor. You don't speak to me. Because you cannot say a word. Not one. Because what you've done, basically, it was off the scale compared to this. One planet, compared to a whole empire throughout Time itself. Gallifrey never existed, and it was all your doing. But, thanks to you I will create a new Gallifrey. It will grace the heavens here and I shall be the Master a new empire." The Master daydreamed with glassy eyes while the Doctor looked at the Toclafane that whizzed in the air around the main table with a sad glance before returning his gaze to the floor.

* * *

The DoctorDonna next appeared to the Master's un-delight when he was in the middle of an important conversation with his Toclafane. "Mister Master, when will we fly across the stars?" It asked as it danced in the air around the Master's head.

"Tomorrow morning. I've already told you." He sighed exasperatedly. "And there will be a new empire, my empire." He leaned against the front of the desk and twirled his laser screwdriver between his fingers. The Toclafane bopped in the air with glee.

"What are they?" The DoctorDonna asked.

"What?" The Master turned his head to see her and then glared. "Oh look who it is."

"Because they're not the Toclafane. There's no such thing. Only a nightmare told by parents to get their children to behave." She continued as she watched the silver metal ball whizz around the Master's shoulders.

His eyes narrowed as he looked at her, and then a wide grin stretched over his face. "It's the closest thing. But how do you not remember?" He asked. "Oh, right, some of the human mixed in with the Time Lord, bound to be a little memory loss on either side." He answered himself, before shuddering again.

"What are they?" She repeated impatiently.

"Are you sure you want to know, will your little human heart crack and split into two when you find out? Because that's what happened to Gramps when he clocked on." He pulled a sad face before chuckling.

"Tell me." The DoctorDonna ordered.

"Come here little Toclafane." The Master called to the little sphere which obeyed dutifully. It landed with a soft metallic thunk on the desk and the DoctorDonna moved closer to see. The Master pointed his laser screwdriver at it and there was a clicking sound as the deadlock on the Toclafane's outer shell unlocked. He turned to face her and waggled his eyebrows. "Shall I?" He asked and then went ahead anyway to slowly pull down each segment, like he was unpeeling an orange.

The DoctorDonna leaned over the side of the table, knowing that she didn't want to see what it was, but looked anyway. She looked into the eyes of the creature inside; she couldn't call it human as it wasn't anymore. All and any humanity which it had before was stripped away by the Master and his laser screwdriver. "I'm so sorry. Oh, I am so very sorry." She said before turning on the Master. "You. You're a monster!" She hissed at him.

He merely smiled back at her. "So this is the human part. As fiery as your ginger hair." He mocked. "I'm not the monster here. Far from it. You know what the Doctor did. I am merely undoing his damage."

"You tell yourself that to get to sleep?" She retorted.

"I sleep just fine." He replied.

"And the drums?" She asked bluntly.

He winced before glaring at her. "The drum beat. What do you know of the drums?" He asked, but never gave her a chance to reply. "The drums are my call to war. War with the rest of the universe. And it will be magnificent."

"I think you're bonkers." The DoctorDonna commented, shaking her head. "Why else would you do all this? It's because you want to be the master of everything. But the thing is, you never know when to stop."

"I'll stop when there's a new Gallifrey here on Earth." He said coldly.

"You don't have to do that. You can go with the Doctor, just listen to him. He can help you." She said earnestly.

"You're right. I don't have to do anything." The Master replied. "I _need_ to." He emphasised.

"You just think you do." She said as she faded out of sight. He glared at the empty space that the DoctorDonna left behind before standing up and walking out onto the flight deck.

"Tea." He barked at Mrs Jones and she hurried off to the kitchen to get it. "Lucy." He sing-songed to his wife and she spun around on the chair to face him.

"Harry." She greeted him with a dazed smile.

He bent down to whisper in her ear. "I think, that we need to put our little plan into action."

She smiled back at him and nodded. "The ring?" She asked, before shooting a suspicious look at Mrs Jones who scurried in and deposited the table before hastily moving back.

"Mmmm." The Master hummed in confirmation. He slipped the silver engraved ring off his finger and dropped it into her palm.

She studied it for a moment before handing it back. "I'll keep it safe Harry. Whatever happens." Lucy told him slowly and he kissed her on the forehead and the spun her chair around once more.

The Master walked down into the depths of the Valiant. He walked to the TARDIS and rechecked the dials and wires, making sure that the paradox machine was working just fine. And then he sat down on the chair and closed his eyes, listening to the sound of the discordant thrumming noise of the diseased heart of the machine. The appearances of that annoying ghostly metacrisis had sown seeds of doubt into his mind. The fact that she repeatedly popped up every now and again was clearly worrying. After all, if his new alternate timeline of his New Gallifrey and its empire was so infallible, then why was she hanging around? No, if she was still here, a ghost of a potential future, then there was every chance that that Martha Jones could win. And he needed to take precautions in case of that possibility.

* * *

The DoctorDonna was seen by the Master one last time. It was at the very end of his reign as Master of all humans and he was not happy. The Doctor was young again as he flew in the air, suspended by the power of the thoughts of the humans, amplified by the Archangel network, enveloped in a kaleidoscope of bright and shining colours.

The Master had huddled up in the corner, as far away from him as possible. "No, no, no." He mumbled. Not wanting to hear what he was trying to say.

"Let him help you." The DoctorDonna called out to him.

"And you know what happens next." The Doctor stated. He lowered himself down in the air and put his arms around the Master, his old friend.

"Let him help you Koschei." She repeated.

But the Master called the Toclafane back; they flew back towards the Valiant to protect the paradox machine which kept them alive. The Doctor called to Captain Jack and the DoctorDonna smiled widely as she watched him race down to the TARDIS to destroy the paradox machine.

The effects were immediate. The clouds flew backwards in the sky. Day and night flipped over and over at an alarming rate as time raced in reverse. The Year That Never Was. And the DoctorDonna stood on the flight deck of the Valiant and watched as history was made. Papers were thrown into the air and the ship itself rocked in the sky, everybody huddled to the floor and held on.

Time was solidifying as one future became a reality as another faded out of existence. The DoctorDonna was then free to continue travelling down the timelines, back from the event of the metacrisis to the split lives of the Doctor and Donna Noble. She crossed over from one to the other, twisting them closer together and fixing up little points which coincided and brought the two together, like temporal nudges. And the Master's contingency plan which had been influenced by her was put into action after Lucy pulled the trigger on the gun and shot him stone cold dead. He would wait and bide his time, as he had done before, and then he would attempt his plan again for more successful results the next time.

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_Review please :D _


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